Wick Hill, a value added distributor specializing in secure infrastructure solutions, has begun to ship WatchGuard’s new eXtensible threat management, or XTM, appliances - the XTM 8-series and the XTM 1050.

 

The XTM 1050 is ideal for larger SMEs, branches/departments of larger enterprises and companies/organisations with up to 10,000 users. The XTM 8-series is suitable for up to 5,000 users. Both solutions provide integrated SSL and IPSec VPNs to ensure secure connectivity for remote workers.

 

The new class of security solutions competes with offering from traditional larger SME and enterprise UTM suppliers. WatchGuard updates the UTM concept to cope with today’s changing security scenario

 

XTM provides more security features, greater networking capabilities and more management flexibility than its unified threat management predecessor. The company claims these solutions also offer greater IT investment protection, increased green credentials and improved choice for large and enterprise customers.

 

Charles Kolodgy, research director, security products for IDC (News - Alert), expects UTM to remain the primary security solution for distributed environments. However, he believes it will evolve into an eXtensible Threat Management (XTM) platform within the enterprise.

 

“XTM platforms will take security appliances beyond traditional boundaries by vastly expanding security features, networking capabilities and management flexibility,” Kolodgy said in a statement.

 

Building on the IDC-defined UTM foundation of integrated firewall/VPN with virus and intrusion blocking, WatchGuard XTM extends security to provide spam blocking, spyware and bot protection, and URL filtering.

 

The solution includes enhanced support for business technologies such as VoIP, and offers inbound and outbound HTTPS inspection to increase content security coverage and close the HTTPS loophole.

 

The WatchGuard XTM appliances support high availability, open common standards-based management, and are customisable to meet specific requirements or add additional security functions when needed.

 

“XTM gets away from the confusion in the UTM market where some UTM solutions barely meet the IDC definition and don’t have the ability or performance capacity to cope with current and future threats,” said Ian Kilpatrick, chairman of Wick Hill Group, in a statement. “WatchGuard has taken a big step forward with these new XTM products and will gain significant market share.”